Happy 5th Birthday Service Central
Today Service Central turns 5. Its been quite a journey over the last 5 years and we take a little trip down memory lane.
5 years ago Service Central was launched to the world!!! Yep, it was back in July 2005 that we took the bold step to advertise our unique service about the easy way to find trades & services. It was Grubby & Dee Dee that announced the arrival of Service Central as the major sponsor of their Write Your Own Cheque competition. Day after day the Service Central name was being pumped out to the listening public of Gold 104.3FM as the revolutionary new way to find services. Thanks to the success of that early campaign, word began to quickly spread and consumers began to use www.servicecentral.com.au to find trades & services. To this day the constant flow of new job requests from consumers hasn't let up.
So why did Service Central catch on? Why did the concept appeal to so many consumers and businesses alike?
Service Central was first of its kind. Service Central was a trendsetter and led the way in innovative ways to solve an age old problem. Service Central was the world's first marketplace for local services. Service Central was the first website where people could post a job request and have multiple local businesses respond to their work. And consumers loved it! No longer did they have to drudge through the phone book and call business after business hoping that one was available to the job when they needed it done. No longer did consumers have to worry about whether the business was properly registered and insured, and for the first time ever consumers could see feedback from others on the quality of service provided by each business. Service Central was leading the world in these innovations and people embraced the idea.
Businesses too loved the Service Central concept. For the first time ever they weren't fully reliant on their phone ringing. They could go online and see what jobs were available and pick and choose the jobs that they wanted. This helped them smooth out their work flow and pick up new jobs when things were slow. It also really helped the businesses that wanted to grow, that could tap into the constant flow of new jobs being placed on the Service Central system. Service Central was also the first to introduce SMS job notifications directly to local businesses out in the field. This innovation lead to phones beeping with new jobs around the country, and have been a great hit with tradespeople in particular who rarely get to sit down in front of a computer.
The business continued to grow. It wasn't long before thousands of job requests were coming through every month. As you can imagine there was a mad scramble behind the scenes to keep up. Our system had to keep up with the ever increasing demand, we had to find the best quality businesses around the country to take up all of these job opportunities, and of course we had to put together a great team of people that could grow and nurture the Service Central concept. We also had to find the money to pay for all of this and the strength to stick with it when times were tough.
The first 5 years of Service Central have been quite an adventure. Some of the stories that have made it into Service Central folklore include:
- Calling 600 plumbers before securing the first meeting. Now regarded as the worst sales effort ever!!!
- How the system would go down at 1.05pm every day for a month for no apparent reason.
- The Jobs Board Hall of Fame, with jobs such as 6,000 pink balls required for a photo shoot.
- A job posting for a Divorce Lawyer at 3am
- Learning that "Replacing bats in the ceiling" isn't a job for a pest controller.
We've also had our fair share of successes over the years. It has been truly exciting to be part of a start-up that has gone from nothing to a multi-million dollar enterprise. It has been ever more fulfilling to have been recognised for our achievements over the years, including:
- BRW Fast Starters List in 2008 and 2009.
- My Business E-Business of the Year Award in 2008.
We also love our milestones and passing the 100,000 and then 200,000th job mark earlier this year was also a great achievement.
Never a company to rest on our laurels, 5 years on the Service Central team is working harder than ever. New innovations continue to be released every week, and new records continue to be set. For example, last month Service Central had more visitors to our website than ever before! That's quite an achievement after 5 years on continual growth. We also have some great new innovations in the pipeline that we can't wait to release in the near future.
Last but not least we would like to thank you. If it were not for the support of the many businesses, consumers and dedicated hard working staff, the great success and longevity of Service Central would not have been possible. Thank you.
Service Central will continue to grow and who knows where we will be in another 5 years!
